What math courses did you take in High School ? Did you go to a public school ?

I am a Ninth Grade Public School student and I will be taking Algebra 2. I took Algebra 1 and Geometry in the seventh and eighth grades respectively.

I noticed that the local Catholic school where I moved from seemed to graduate students who took Geometry in summer school.(I know about this because some of my cousins went there.)

Do you think public schools have an advantage over most private schools (and for that matter homeschools) in terms of course availability ?

This is why I think twice when I hear some conservatives and libertarians claim that private and other alternative education options are superior to the public option.

so I took Algebra I in 9th grade. 10th was Geometry. 11th was Algebra II. 12 was Adv. Algebra/Trig. In the long run it probably has not hurt me (I took a 4 semester Calc/Diff Eqns sequence in college instead of the normal 3). The important thing, if you are going to be an engineer or some type of type of physical scientist is to get Calc II so you are ready for Physics I (these are usually coreqs, but sometimes your Physics can get ahead of your math). My math preparation in High School was insufficient for college Calculus I, and I was real close to washing out at my first test, but I got it just in time and did well after that. My two professors for Calculus I and I at Purdue in 1981-1982 were two of the finest professors that I ever had. They were maestros.

My daughter was also misplaced going into 7th grade, but she jumped this year and will take the following:

8th - Algebra I
9th - Geometry
10th -Algebra II/Trig
11th - PreCalculus
12th - AP Calculus

I would like to see her take an online Summer School course for Geometry this summer so she can take Algebra II/Trig next year (I hate the year layoff between Algebra I and Algebra II - I think it is wrong). The sequencing also allows access to AP Chemistry in 10th grade. The problem will be convincing the High School to allow her to do this.

I found the opposite to be true (at the time) -- after 9 years in private schools, I talked my parents into letting me go to a public school (I lasted 6 months) and I was far more advanced than the other students. It was one of the better public schools in the city. Things may have changed -- or it certainly sounds like they have in your case.

messed up home schooled kids. I would never promote home schooling over public education. Now watch the fighting start.

were the parents good examples of lifelong learners. just curious.

liberal families,conservative families, all with college educated parents. Eastern Washington college town with another college nine miles away. I also know families from private schools whose kids had criminal records before they even reached 18. Many of the kids I know are on {insert anti-depressant of your choice}. Numbers? Names? Profiles? More than a handful.

who are grown up, and college graduates with great lives, as are most of their homeschool friends. A lot are artists and musicians who have traveled all over, and some are entrepreneurs. I think it a good idea not to generalize, so much is just anecdotal.

through rose colored glasses when they discuss their own kids and those close to them. You and your friends had your reasons for home-schooling that only you understand. Some never admit to the real reasons.

never asked anyone a question, you asked me and I answered.

come from asking questions.....

but it's not worth the fight. I've studied and worked with home-schooled kids and parents, I have an incredible amount of horror stories. I'm just not willing to fight about it.

you ask why they chose traditional schools???

it always is.

i wanted to study French and art in college so i stopped.

from region to region, the quality of the schools, public and private, varies enormously.

There are public schools here in Northern Virginia that are superior to any private school anywhere - I'd bet on it. But there are also some really bad schools within the same jurisdiction.

It's a crap shoot.

Now, for a high school freshman, you sound terribly thoughtful and literate, and you write very well. And your question about conservatives and libertarians is most interesting.

What do you think?

I graduated in '73. I attended a Catholic school in grades 1-5, entering public school in 6th grade. I basically "coasted" until my senior yr in HS, because my Catholic school education was so much more advanced.

Algebra 1 & 2, Geometry, Trig, AP Calc. Had always been on the accelerated track, so by senior year I took no math courses at my HS.

Course availability does vary greatly even by communities with the same state. There was much more math on offer where I grew up due in part to the aeronautical engineering industry in the city.

i took calculus my senior year.

before that, i recall (vaguely) trigonometry, geometry and algebra :)

one year algegra I
one year geometry
one year algebra II
one summer tutoring and two semesters tutoring to teach me what should have been taught to me the original three years

There are other trade-offs obviously, because the larger a community is, the more dysfunctional it is as a community.

If we went solely by course offerings as a way to judge which schools are superior, we'd ditch traditional public schools and enroll everyone in k12, an online option (public in some states, private in others). Since they serve entire states and by their asynchronous nature don't ever have schedule conflicts, they provide the widest range of course offerings for each student, they'd be the superior option.

But most of us realize that online studies aren't the best option for every student because of learning styles, sense of community, all that.

I teach, by contrast, at a school with less than 300 students. Sometimes we can't offer a course a student needs or wants. We serve some kids coming from a local Waldorf school where German is a common second language but we don't offer German classes. In the past we've paid the tuition for students to take German at a local community college because that's more cost effective than hiring a teacher to teach 2 or 3 students at our site. My daughter wanted Latin, which our high school didn't offer, so she took an online course for that one class.

Once a person gets into an alternative mindset, they are less likely to settle for something simply because it's on the menu. The mindset that made them not accept the status quo in the first place is related to their ability to find alternative solutions when they need them.

10 yo . . .

Algebra I
Geometry/Algebra II
Trigonometry
PreCalculus

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6th grade- Pre-Algebra
7th grade- Algebra 1
8th grade- Geometry
9th grade- Algebra 2
10th grade- AP Statistics
Then I transferred to a different high school, and the math was not at the same level as my previous school system.
11th grade- Pre Calculus
12th grade- AP Calculus

I was in "advanced" math once I got to jr. high.

7th pre-algebra
8th algebra
9th geometry (the only math I disliked)
10th Algebra 2
11th Algebra 3, I think that's what it was
12th trigonometry and intergral calculus


Then I took a social science calculus in college, and that was it. I loved the humanities and arts and ended up with an English degree. Looking back now, I wish I had done more science and gone to med school or something. :D

I took:
7th - Advanced Pre-Algebra
8th - Advanced Algebra I
9th - Geometry (took during summer before as well)
10th - Algebra II
summer afterwards - Precalc/Trig
11th - AP Calculus AB
12th - AP Calculus BC
now - Calculus 3

The algebras and geometry. 1970s.

I took algebra, trig/geom in 7th and 8th grade... then was placed BACK into geometry and algebra in at a private HS. LOL
I did not feel like testing out into more difficult classes. Teacher thought I was a smart-ass.
I literally slept through my first two yrs of math in HS and got like a 98%
I took no AP classes in high school and only 1 "honors" course (precalculus to prepare for college).

Keeping you're GPA up in HS is easy if you schedule easy classes. Leverage the private school's diploma and game the system.
If you have a good GPA from a private school & decent SAT/ACT test scores, you'll get accepted to most any college.
Ask me how I know! :7

Whether or not you get a better education in public vs. private is irrelevant if you plan on going to college.
The only thing that matters is what the college perceives to be the better diploma... and often (all else being equal) the private wins out.
Honestly, it's unimpressive when a public HS has like 8+ valedictorians because the curriculum is watered down.
I plan on sending my kids to private primary/HS if I can afford it. Preschool, kindergarten, & middle school are not as important IMO.

Algebra I and II and Geometry. I didn't have to take Trig, so I didn't.

And I don't remember 99% of it and never use it. Especially algebra. I have a theory that high school kids are forced into all those higher math classes to keep them from thinking about (and having) sex. :rofl:

Went to college and got Calc I-III, linear algebra, and Differential equations. In the fall I think it is going to be Advanced Calculus and Fourier Series.

WTF is a geometry class?